Moore & McGregor – Dream With Me

MOORE & McGREGOR

Dream with Me

Ivernia Records

mooremcgregor.ca

Dream with Me by Moore & McGregor – veteran musicians Wendy Moore (harp, oboe, English horn, pennywhistle, vocals) and Arthur McGregor (guitar, banjo, bodhran, and most of the lead vocals) – is a marvelous debut album of songs and tunes by a duo who have long worked together (often performing kids’ shows as the Celtic Rathskallions) that includes superb original songs by Arthur, traditional Celtic tunes, and several excellent songs drawn from other writers.

Arthur’s writing is most impressive. The album opens with “The McGregors,” Arthur’s up tempo account of his family’s emigration from Scotland to Canada when he was a small child and his and the family’s embrace of their new home more than 60 years ago.

Arthur’s other songs include “Back on the Farm,” co-written with producer Paul Mills, in which the narrator celebrates his return to the family farm, and the farmer’s life, that he forsook as a young man for a nomadic life; “Dream With Me,” a beautiful love song written for Wendy; and the infectious “Dancing Shoes,” a toe-tapper that celebrates dancing and small town life.

Wendy’s contributions as an instrumentalist and occasional harmony vocalist are felt throughout the album but she is at the forefront on “Path of the Paddle,” David Archibald’s lovely hymn to canoeing on which she sings the lead vocal, and the instrumental medley of “The South Wind/The Battle of Glencoe,” two beautiful traditional tunes she plays on the harp.

The rest of the album is equally strong but I particularly love their interpretation of Warren Zevon’s “Don’t Let Us Get Sick,” a song that is a kind of off-centre prayer and affirmation; and their version of “Summertime,” the Gershwin classic from “Porgy and Bess” set at the corner of Folk, Blues and Jazz Streets. Wendy’s oboe playing on this track is positively haunting.

In addition to Wendy and Arthur, the only other musicians are Curly Boy Stubbs (Paul Mills) on guitar, mandolin and percussion and David Woodhead, the always inventive bassist. The arrangements and contributions of all the singers and players always serve the best interests of the songs.

A gem of an album to begin the new year.

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--Mike Regenstreif

Shelley Posen – Roseberry Road

SHELLEY POSEN
Roseberry Road
Well Done Music 
shelleyposen.com

On Roseberry Road, Shelley Posen – a member of Finest Kind, the Ottawa-based vocal trio known for their exquisite harmonies – presents a set of 16 well-crafted songs in a variety of styles written over the past decade-and-a-half.

The album opening title song – named for the street in suburban Toronto where Shelley spent his early childhood – is among the highlights. It’s a sweet, lovely and nostalgic reminiscence filled with personal and very specific memories.

Another is “The Campfire Song,” about singing around a campfire and the kind of songs that get sung there. I developed much of my earliest appreciation for folk music from sing-alongs at summer camp in the 1960s and the song brings back a lot of those memories for me.

A few other favorites include “The Gazebo on the Oswegatche,” which seems like it could have been a 1920s pop tune; “The Basket’s Song,” which Shelly sings from the perspective of a basket woven in 1903 as it tells its history from creation to museum exhibit; “Canoeing My Troubles Away,” a country waltz that celebrates getting away from city life; and the closer, “Thanks for the Song,” an end-of-the-night farewell after a fulfilling concert or any kind of gathering for singing and sharing music.

Shelley uses a wide variety of styles on these songs and each features musicians specifically chosen to bring something special to it. Just a few of the contributing players include producer Paul Mills on banjo, guitarist Rick Whitelaw, violinists Anne Lindsay and Mika Posen (Shelley’s daughter), and bassists Dennis Pendrith and David Woodhead.

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--Mike Regenstreif

Garnet Rogers – Summer’s End

GARNET ROGERS
Summer’s End
Snow Goose Songs 
garnetrogers.com

Seven years on from his last album, and after years of thinking he was done with recording, Garnet Rogers has released Summer’s End, a collection of beautiful heartrending songs about memory, grief, hope and love.

The mood of the album is set with an opening instrumental, “The Road to Tobermory,” a lovely Celtic piece Garnet composed in memory of a close friend recently passed. Fingerpicked on a nylon string guitar, Garnet overdubs his own violin and flutes – the instruments I first heard him play years before I ever saw him with a guitar in hand – and glockenspiel.

It’s followed by “Old Campfires,” a poem set in winter that looks forward to the coming spring. It was written by Sidney Bushell, Garnet’s maternal grandfather, and set to music about 50 years ago by Garnet’s late older brother, Stan Rogers, when he was about 15. I’ve heard Stan sing some of the songs he made from lyrics by older relatives – but I don’t recall ever hearing this fine piece before. Later, near the end of the album, Garnet offers an exquisite version of Stan’s seldom-performed “Sailor’s Rest,” a portrait of an old seaman living in his memories.

A couple of songs, “The Sweet Spot” and “It’s a Gift,” are inspired by the small fishing village of Canso, Nova Scotia (which as I write on July 5 is experiencing tropical storm conditions from Hurricane Arthur) where his mother grew up and where Garnet and Stan spent their summers as kids. Garnet now owns an old house in Canso and “The Sweet Spot” describes waking up there on a summer morning. “It’s a Gift” describes a beautiful day in Canso. Both are love songs to the village and, ultimately, to Gail Parker Rogers, Garnet’s wife.

Among the other standouts are “Our Boy,” written about a Canadian Forces major and his mission in Afghanistan, and sung from the perspective of a loved one at home in Canada describing a recent visit home by the soldier; “Shadows on the Water,” a homage to the late, gifted but troubled singer-songwriter Bill Morrissey; and “Sleeping,” written for his father, Al Rogers, who recently passed away.

Mike Regenstreif & Garnet Rogers (2006)

As I mentioned, this is an album of songs about memory, grief, hope and love – all themes that come together in the two poignant title songs.

In “Summer’s End (1),” Garnet sings of sitting with his wife, at summer’s end, in what has been a time of loss and grief. Ultimately, there is hope found in the continuing circle of life, and in the desire to “to look a little further down the road and not just day to day. I know you’ll look out for me as I look out for you. And we’ll live in hope for better days, it’s the best that we can do.”

Later, in “Summer’s End (2),” Garnet is still reflecting on the grieving times he and Gail have been

through but images of summer ending and winter’s approach are also used to reiterate the hope and strength that comes through enduring love.

As a song cycle, Summer’s End is a quietly subdued tour de force. While most of the songs feature  Garnet by himself, there are also several songs that feature fine contributions from David Woodhead on bass and piano and one with co-producer Scott Merritt on vibes. It is – perhaps – Garnet’s finest

work to date.

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--Mike Regenstreif